The London Guantánamo has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Human rights for all.

Friday, December 30, 2016

There are currently 59
prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay. On 4 December, Yemeni Shawqi Awad Balzuhair,
35, was transferred to Cape Verde in Africa. A former “forever prisoner”, he
was cleared for release in July by the periodic review board. His assessment
found that he had been mistakenly deemed to be an Al-Qaeda fighter. He was
never charged during his 14 years at Guantánamo. Balzuhair is the second former
prisoner to be accepted by the island state. In 2010, it accepted another
prisoner who remains there, although he has never been allowed to meet any of
his family members in the six years since his release.

With the second round of periodic reviews
underway for those who were not previously cleared, a further three prisoners
have been cleared for release in December and are the last few to be cleared
under Obama. 23 prisoners are currently cleared for release once suitable host
countries have been found to take them or if they can be returned home.

In early December, 37-year old Yemeni
Salman Rabeji was cleared for release following his second appearance before
the board in early November. He was recommended for release to a Gulf state.

37-year old Yemeni prisoner Yassim Qasim Mohammed Ismail Qasim
and his compatriot Mohammed Al-Ansi were also cleared for release. In Al-Ansi’s
case, the decision was made within days of his second review hearing being
held. He was accused but never charged with being a personal bodyguard to Osama
Bin Laden. He has consistently denied any involvement with Al Qaeda.

Two other Yemeni prisoners had their cases
reviewed for a second time in December. The final one was held on 15 December
and is also the final one under Obama’s presidency. It is unclear whether this
administrative practice will continue under Trump. 36-year-old Uthman Abd
al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman was the final prisoner to have his case reviewed.

Pre-trial hearings continued in two military commission
cases at Guantánamo. On 5 December, hearings in the case of 5 men allegedly
involved in the September 2001 attacks on New York resumed. Saudi prisoner
Mustafa Al Hawsawi, who was subject to sustained sexual abuse while a CIA
prisoner, returned to the court for the first time since an operation in
October to repair a torn rectum, which has made it painful to sit or relieve
himself, among other difficulties. It later emerged, as his lawyers also
learned for the first time, that he had been treated for haemorrhoids and not a
torn rectum. This was stated by a doctor providing testimony during the
hearing. His lawyers wanted to ask the doctor about the treatment he had
received while a CIA prisoner but the judge insisted that questions were asked
only about the operation he had had in October and how that might affect his
ability to attend court. Hawsawi was in considerable pain during the hearing
and did not testify.

Pre-trial hearings also continued in
the case of Abd Al-Nashiri accused of involvement in the 2000 bombing of a US
naval vessel, the SS Cole, in the Gulf of Aden. Seeking to use the torture he
faced as a means of having the case thrown out, his lawyers asked for CIA
agents involved at the time he was waterboarded to testify about the treatment
he received. One of these individuals is James E. Mitchell, a psychologist who
is currently being sued by the ACLU for involvement in designing the CIA’s
torture programme, who has also recently published a new book called “Enhanced
Interrogations” in which he talks about the torture he was involved in, including
the waterboarding of Al-Nashiri.Other issues discussed included whether
Al-Nashiri should be allowed to spend the nights at the compound of the war
court during hearings as the torture he had been subject to had caused medical
illnesses for him and the journey to and from his cell each day was tiring and
making him ill. Other motions continued to press for the whole Senate Torture
Report from 2014 to be disclosed to the defence. Barack Obama has stated that
his copy of the report will be archived. Senator Dianne Feinstein has again
called for the whole report to be disclosed to the public. During the pre-trial
hearing, 2024 was suggested as a start date for the actual trial into the case.

With the judge in this case not approving the preservation of the
Senate Torture Report for potential future use in the trial, US District Court
Judge Royce Lamberth made a decision for this to be done and “all evidence, documents and information, without
limitation, now or ever in the [U.S. government’s] possession, control or
custody, relating to the torture, mistreatment, and/or abuse of detainees held
in the custody of the Executive Branch” since Sept. 11, 2001” to be maintained
and preserved, as well as to deliver a copy of the report to the military
commission court. The report contains a whole chapter on the torture Al Nashiri
faced in CIA detention. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article123591209.html?platform=hootsuite#storylink=cpyIt has emerged that in April, the Obama administration
asked Israel to accept the transfer of a Kenyan prisoner and to prosecute him
as he cannot be tried at Guantánamo. Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, 43, has been
held at Guantánamo since 2007. From statements he gave to the US military while
a prisoner prior to arrival at Guantánamo, as revealed by Wikileaks, https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/10025.html
it is alleged that he was tenuously involved in a terrorist attack on Israeli
tourists in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002. Israeli officials are reportedly prepared
to accept the transfer and to prosecute him, however the process has not moved
forward as the FBI has so far refused to provide Israel with more information
than that leaked by Wikileaks; in particular Israel has asked for the
confession of his involvement in the attack in Mombasa. Lee Wolosky, Barack
Obama’s special envoy for Guantánamo, who oversees arrangements for transfers,
visited Israel in April to discuss the visit.

On 16 December, former Guantánamo prisoner Jihad Diyab, a
Syrian refugee who was released to Uruguay in 2014, left Uruguay for South
Africa. He flew to Johannesburg but was refused entry as he apparently did not
have an entry visa. Diyab was promised on his release that he and his family,
whom he has not seen for over 15 years and are currently refugees in Turkey and
Syria, would be reunited. This has not happened in over two years in spite of
repeat promises. Earlier this year, Diyab left Uruguay and travelled to
Venezuela but was deported. He went on hunger strike after his return losing
consciousness more than once. He has since been told he can leave Uruguay and a
third country where he can join his family will be found. He thus ended his
hunger strike in October but no new plan has been agreed. At around the same time, the Uruguayan government agreed
with the other 5 prisoners released to the country in 2014, who are also
refugees, to extend the support package they are in receipt of – accommodation
and a stipend – until February 2018, although the stipend has been reduced.
While the Uruguayan government claims that three of the men are in
employment, these are not well paid jobs or full time. Although he plans to
leave the country, the Uruguayan government has said that Jihad Diyab is
entitled to this package as well.http://www.espectador.com/politica/345415/nin-novoa-pidio-sacarle-los-microfonos-de-arriba-a-diyabBarack Obama’s administration has revealed that he plans to
transfer at least 17 of the 23 prisoners currently cleared for release
before he leave the White House. Plans are currently underway to transfer the
men to countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Italy, which means
that they will be transferred to highly restrictive conditions or detention, at
the behest of the USA, abroad.

At the same time, Barack Obama has once
again approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2017
preventing the transfer of Guantánamo prisoners to the US mainland. However the
law includes provisions for the temporary transfer of prisoners to the US
mainland for medical treatment and to start the construction of possible
prisons to hold prisoners on the mainland in the future.

Take action!

We hold a regular monthly demonstration calling for the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Our March demonstration is on Thursday 8 March at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Ln, London SW11 7US: https://www.facebook.com/events/975903689224552/

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About Me

The London Guantánamo Campaign has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Also on Facebook and Twitter.